


heaven only knows where you've been

by talkingtoangxls



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Family, Future Fic, Gen, Implied Relationships, Mother-Son Relationship, Near Future, Returning Home, Sad with a Happy Ending, basically Lance's family's (mom's lol) perspective on his disappearance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-25
Updated: 2017-11-25
Packaged: 2019-02-04 06:16:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12764904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/talkingtoangxls/pseuds/talkingtoangxls
Summary: Three years after his disappearance, life has gone on.





	heaven only knows where you've been

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own the characters used in this story nor the show that they come from. All rights go to Dreamworks. Not affiliated with Dreamworks or Voltron.

When her youngest son disappears, it feels like the world is coming down around her.

“We don’t know where he is,” they say. “He disappeared with two other students, we wish we had more answers, we’re sorry.”

Three weeks later, the authorities have lost hope of finding them alive. So she cries.

She cries, and she screams, and she prays. She prays every night to the Lord above to bring her baby home. Because that’s her baby, Lance is her baby-- he’s _their_ baby.

Gabriel mourns differently than she does. He’s the one that takes control, calls their other kids, and tells them what happened before it shows up on the local news. He's the one that opens the door to turn away visitors when she feels too shattered to see anyone else. But at night, the bed shakes with his sobs, and there’s nothing she can do but hold him close.

Their pain is shared.

He turns the pictures with Lance in them down on the tables, pulls them off the walls, because he can’t stand to look at them.

She stands them back up, hangs them on their nails again, because she can’t stand not seeing his face, fearing that she might forget him, and it’s the worst feeling in the world.

They keep his bedroom door closed, don’t even let their grandbabies in there to see and grab Lance’s old toys like they normally would. When their other children come to visit, they cook for her, clean for her, let her rest, because they know the crying is tiring. They know firsthand, because since they got the news they’ve all been doing the same. They try to visit each other on their best days to help out, do what the others can’t.

Six months after his disappearance their town holds a candlelight vigil. They don’t attend. They’ve said what they can publicly.

At Christmas, eight and a half months after his disappearance, all their children come to their house and go through the motions, pretend to be happy, but it’s not the same. There’s something missing, _someone_ missing, and they’re all aware of it, but they try. They try their damndest, and it’s almost enough, until she finds Gabriel holding Emily in his arms, and she’s crying, and then they’re all crying, because Emily just found out she’s pregnant again. She and her husband are excited, but she can’t imagine Lance not being there, being one of the first to hold the new baby, being Uncle Lance. It’s too hard to think about.

Nine months after his disappearance, she finds the courage to go into his room. The moment she steps inside, she’s hit with a rush of emotion, and it almost feels like backwards progress, but she takes another step. The curtains that she put up years ago are still there, partially opened, letting the sunlight in. She stands there, a hand over her mouth and tears in her eyes, trying to breathe, because it hurts to be in there and not know when he’s coming back, _if_ he’s coming back. She sees the family photo on his nightstand, the only one he didn’t take to the Garrison with him, and that’s it for her. She sits on the bed, and lets herself cry. She does not touch anything else.

One year after his disappearance, their town holds another vigil. This time, they attend. She leans on Gabriel’s arm, she cries, and she turns down the opportunity to stand up and speak. Sara and Emily and Lucas all stand up to speak, while Laura and Liam stand with their parents. It’s the first time they’ve been anywhere other than a store that they can recall, and when people start coming up to them and offering them condolences and saying that Lance has been in their prayers, she remembers why. It’s overwhelming and while it’s well-meaning it’s everything she’s heard before.

One year, two months, and three weeks after his disappearance, they get a call, saying they found remains that are outside of the area they were looking and they need to look at them more, but to be prepared. She sobs, and Gabriel takes the phone from her, tells them that they shouldn’t have called unless they were sure, hangs up and holds his wife. He tells her that he’s out there somewhere, he’s coming back to them, he’s sure of it. “He’s following the stars to find his way back home to us,” Gabriel consoles. She tries to believe him.

One year and three months after his disappearance, they find out it wasn’t Lance. She doesn’t know how to feel.

One year, five months, and a few days after his disappearance, Emily goes through hours of labor and suddenly she has another son; they have another grandson. “His name is Lance,” she tells them. “Named after his uncle,” she says. “I had planned all along to name one  
of my babies after him,” she says, “but it felt right for this one.” And God, if he doesn’t look like a Lance. They all cry over this new life, wishing Lance was there to meet his namesake, because they knew he’d be crying tears of joy over this little baby, holding him tight in his arms and telling someone to take a picture, no matter how he looks with tears on his face.

Two years after his disappearance, she spends the day in his room dusting. “For when he comes home,” she explains to Gabriel when he asks, looking a little upset. She knows he’s alive. She doesn’t know how, but she knows it. She doesn’t know when, but she does know that the day is getting closer. She can feel it.

Three years after his disappearance, life has gone on. Laura has had her first baby, a little girl named Emilia, and Sara has graduated college. Lucas got a promotion, Liam was in grad school, and Emily is working on teaching little Lance his shapes and colors. Nothing feels like it should, but they aren’t unhappy.

Three years and nine months after his disappearance, they get a call from a Dr. Colleen Holt. She’s in tears, explaining that she found their number on Whitepages, but her husband and son were the ones that disappeared on the Kerberos mission with Takashi Shirogane, and her daughter went missing with Lance. She still needs to call Hunk’s moms, but she needs to tell them-- “Olivia, our babies are on their way home, Katie called me somehow, she said in a few months it’ll be safe, and-- oh God, you must think I’m crazy--” But she doesn’t hear anything else Colleen said, because all she heard was confirmation that she was _right_ , Lance is coming home.

Four years, one month, two weeks, and three days after his disappearance, she’s in the kitchen making lunch, when she hears a knock on the door. Gabriel answers it, and something in her tells her to turn around, look who’s at the door, just in case. Gabriel is standing there, door open, gaping at a boy in strange blue and white armor, with his brown skin covered in scars and still-healing wounds, holding a helmet in his hand.

“Lance?” he whispers, unbelieving.

Gabriel turns to look at Olivia, and she knows. She lets go of the towel in her hand, hands going to her face. She knows it’s him, but she can’t believe it. She drops to her knees, still staring. She knew it all along, she’d tried to prepare herself for it, but seeing him there, on their porch, still took her breath away. Gabriel is at her side, holding his arm out towards the door, and suddenly they’re all on the floor, holding each other close, making up for four years of Lance being gone.

“Mama,” Lance says. “Mama, I’m home.”

She looks at him through teary eyes, her hands on his cheeks, looking him over. His hair is shorter, and his eyes look bluer than ever. She doesn’t know what he’s been through, but she knows that he’s alive, and that he’s happy, and that he’ll tell her in due time. There’s another boy standing at the door, in red and white armor identical to Lance’s, and she holds her arm out to him, inviting him in. Lance turns to look at him, and she knows that he’s one of the reasons he’s so happy, despite all the trauma she knows he’s been through in the last four years.

“I was in the stars,” he says.

Four years, one month, two weeks, and three days after his disappearance, Lance McClain comes home.

**Author's Note:**

> When I asked my friends to go through and read this before I posted it 2 of them cried lmao,,, rip. Anyways I hope y'all enjoyed!  
> Feel free to leave kudos or drop a comment! (I try to reply to all comments!) Please check out some of my other works!  
> Title taken from Lights Down Low by MAX and work inspired by In the Bedroom Down the Hall from Dear Evan Hansen.  
> Please note: this work can be found on other websites such as Quotev under the same screen name (talkingtoangxls), and on my Voltron blog (lancesvoltron.tumblr.com).  
> Disclaimer: I do not own the characters used in this story nor the show that they come from. All rights go to Dreamworks. Not affiliated with Dreamworks or Voltron.


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